


The Pain of Our Past

by ListedThings



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-01-12 04:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18439487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ListedThings/pseuds/ListedThings
Summary: Dick loved the kid, he really did, but sometimes Damian just tested his patience.





	1. Chapter 1

In hindsight, maybe going after a group of thugs all on his own hadn’t been a good idea on Damian’s part. Not that he was going to admit it to anyone but himself, or maybe not to himself even because come on he could take these hooligans out. However, Batman had specifically told him to stick together, and not run off like he usually did. That was asking for too much though. In the end, Damian ended up with a bullet in his leg – he had managed to take out the group before Batman showed up - but he was fine, and he told Grayson as such while Pennyworth worked on wrapping up his leg.

 

“That’s not the point,” Grayson said massaging his head, trying in vain to stop the brewing headache. “I need to know that you’ll listen to me when I tell you to because I can’t be worrying about you in the middle of a fight.”

 

“Tt. Stop badgering me, Grayson,” Damian said annoyed. He had taken them out by himself, didn’t Grayson see that. Pennyworth patted his knee once he was finished with the bandaging, and Damian got up from the cot straight away ignoring the sigh that came out of the butler's mouth and instead opted to glare and scowl at Dick.

 

“I’ll be heading upstairs now. Please make sure the both of you head to bed after your chat,” Alfred said before he left the cave.

 

Dick sighed. “Dami, just because you refuse to listen, I’m going to bench you for a week.”

 

Dick didn’t have much patience for the kid right now. With Bruce gone, and the mantle of Batman falling on his shoulders he was having a really hard time finding time to sleep amongst other things, and he didn’t need to be constantly worrying about Robin.

 

“You can’t do that!” Damian exclaimed. “Batman needs Robin!”

 

Didn’t Grayson understand? He could take care of himself; he’d been doing it for as long as he could remember. The training he had received during his time with the League had made sure he wouldn’t need to rely on anyone for help and wasn’t that the crux of the matter – that trusting someone always lead to deadly consequences. But Damian trusted Grayson, and now he was getting benched just because he had run off on his own.

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

“Yes,” Dick replied crossing his arms and fixing the brat with a glare of his own, “I can, and I am. You need to realise that your actions have consequences, and I think a week off will ensure that you listen to me when I tell you to _stick together_. Also, I’m sure that Batman can go a week without Robin.”

 

“I can take care of myself, Grayson! I’m not a child!” Damian shouted. He was getting tired of people thinking that they could just cast him aside as his mother had done.

 

Grayson was doing the exact same thing now.

 

“This isn’t about that!” Dick yelled back, increasingly growing tired of Damian’s refusal to listen. “I’m not going to change my mind about this! You need to learn to stop being a brat, and sometimes just hear people out otherwise you're going to be useless to me when we're out on the field together!”

 

There were a bunch of rebuttals on the tip of Damian’s tongue, but he faltered the moment he heard that word.

 

 _Useless_.

 

His grandfather had said the exact same thing to him. His mother had said the exact same thing to him but hearing them come from Grayson’s mouth. He hadn’t expected that. The person who praised him when he did something right, something no one had ever done. The first person to actually believe in him when no one else did. The only person who understands…no.

 

The only person who understood him, the only person who had trusted him, the only person who had believed in him. So much for that, it seems that his grandfather had been right about one thing – he shouldn’t trust anyone because they would always end up stabbing him in the back. The word kept ringing in his ears.

 

_Useless. Useless. Useless._

 

“Tt. Whatever, Grayson. I’m going to bed,” he said. Damian wasn’t going to take part in this pointless talk anymore. Grayson had made his thoughts perfectly clear. Damian saw the surprised look that appeared on the current Batman’s face. He probably hadn’t expected Damian to agree with what he had to say so easily.

 

Dick’s eyes narrowed. “No sneaking out either otherwise I’ll extend the suspension.”

 

Damian rolled his eyes. “As I said earlier, I’m going to bed.”

 

Dick smiled thinking that his little brother was finally starting to listen to his lectures. Dick extended his arm to ruffle the kids hair, but Damian promptly slapped it away. Damian glared up at him, his eyes cold and unforgiving surprising Dick because this wasn’t what he had been expecting. Sure, Damian hated it when Dick attempted to hug him, or generally showered the kid with affection, but the look in Damian’s green eyes could kill.

 

“Don’t touch me,” he all but growled. “I want nothing to do with you.” After making sure he had made his point clear, Damian walked out of the Cave ignoring all of Dick’s protests. He heaved in deep breaths and was vexed at the stinging in his eyes. He wasn’t going to cry. He was above such childish things; he was an Al Ghul, a Wayne.

 

He should have known. Should have expected it; shouldn’t have let his guard down near that idiot. As Damian shut the door and sat down on the floor with his back against the door, clutching his head in his hands, he promised himself that this wouldn’t happen again.

 

He would never trust anyone ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!


	2. Chapter 2

Dick was beyond confused by the events that had just taken place in the Cave. Sure, he hadn’t been expecting Damian to thank him for being benched for a week, but he also had not been prepared for the angry look that had found its way on the kid's face. Dick ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he stopped in front of Damian’s bedroom door before thinking better of it and making his way to his own room. He would talk to the kid in the morning, figure out what the hell he was so mad about. Right now, though, he just wanted to pass out.

 

However, come morning Damian’s mood hadn’t improved apparently, and for some reason, he was completely ignoring Dick. Alfred had commented on it as well, and all Dick had told him – could tell him because he himself had no idea what was wrong – was that Robin was not allowed to patrol for a week. Now he was sitting in the living room, by himself because Damian had left the moment Dick had entered the room, trying to devise a plan on how he could be in the same room as Damian without the kid having a chance to leave, and not causing a commotion to get Alfred involved.

 

“Master Dick,” Alfred said upon walking into the living, “I’m going to head out for some grocery shopping. I should be back in about an hour.”

 

Opportunity.

 

“Hey, Alf. Where’s Damian?”

 

“Master Damian is training.”

 

Perfect opportunity. He wouldn’t be able to avoid Dick in there.

 

“Alright. Thanks, Alf.”

 

Alfred raised an eyebrow. “I presume you’re going to talk to Master Damian about why he happens to be in such a foul mood this morning.”

 

Dick grimaced. “Yeah, but don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

 

Alfred nodded to him before leaving. Dick had had enough time to wonder as to what could have pissed Damian off so much, but he drew a blank. Maybe it was having Robin taken away from him for a week, but he hadn’t put up much of a fight last night. Dick ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he made his way towards the training room.

 

Who would have thought that taking care of a ten-year-old would be this hard? He was beyond exhausted with having to juggle taking care of Damian, his work at Wayne Enterprises and Batman that he barely managed to get even a few hours of sleep which wasn’t doing much to help either.

 

As he neared the room, he could hear someone – Damian – beating up the punching bag. He leaned against the wall just watching his little brother vent out his frustration – over what, Dick was going to find out in a couple of minutes. Damian snarled, abruptly stopping in his mission to pummel the bag into oblivion and turning around to fix Dick with a glare.

 

“What” he spat, “do you want?”

 

“I was hoping to talk to you about what happened last night in the Cave,” Dick replied calmly. “What was with the sudden sullen mood, and the avoiding me in the morning?”

 

“Tt. I realised my mistake of thinking that you were fit to take on the mantle of Batman. My decision to run after that group was the right one.”

 

Alright, what the hell?

 

“I’m the unfit one! If I remember correctly, I’m not the one who got shot by a bunch of thugs just because I couldn’t obey orders!” Dick shot back. “On top of that your decision was in fact a very bad one because these type of groups tend to have people all over the city who would gladly help them out if they were in danger, and if they had called in their buddies I’m one-hundred per cent sure that you would have ended up with something worse than just a bullet in your leg!”

 

“I handled them, and I would have taken care of the others as well if they had shown up! Which they didn’t by the way because they are cowards just like you!” Damian shouted. “You would rather they run away then let me go after them!

 

Dick was starting to get a headache now. He had come down here to fix whatever had pissed Damian off, but the brat was hell-bent on making it out to be his fault. And frankly, Dick was still mad at him for what happened yesterday, so Damian saying that he was a failure and a coward wasn’t really helping him get into Dick’s good graces right now. If Damian wanted to play this game, then Dick would be happy to oblige. 

 

“Well then Damian, tell me what you want.”

 

Damian’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and you know what, that made Dick feel a bit better because he had done everything, he could possibly to think of to make sure that Damian felt safe and welcomed at the manor. He had even tried to get Tim to understand where Damian was coming from – even though Tim had more than a couple of reasons to doubt the kid. What was his repayment for all of that? For trying to make Damian’s life at the manor smooth. A whole pot of nothing, so Damian could be suspicious of him all he wanted. Dick would love to see how the kid dealt with that.

 

“I wish for you to stop treating me like a child, and for you to step up your game to the legacy of Batman instead of clowning around,” Damian said.

 

Dick nodded his head in confirmation. “Anything else?”

 

“I also do not wish to communicate more than absolutely necessary. I can handle all my problems by myself; I don’t need you.”

 

“So, you basically want me to stop acting like we’re family; that we’re brothers,” Dick said after a moment of silence.

 

“Tt.”

 

Alright then, if that’s what the kid wanted then who was Dick to deny him that. They were going to be some rules though whether Damian liked them or not.

 

“I can agree to those terms, but,” Dick started and enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing Damian’s eye twitch in annoyance, “you’re still of for a week, and I need you to promise me that you will listen to me when I give you orders otherwise I will permanently take Robin away from you.”

 

 _No_ , Dick thought to himself, _I am not going too far because if he wants to have his terms that I’m going to have mine_.

 

“Tt. Whatever Grayson.”

 

“Damian,” Dick all but growled, “Promise me.”

 

“Fine, I promise. Now, leave me alone.”

 

Dick left the room without another word. Damian had gotten what he wanted, and although it hadn’t been what Dick had come to do – that was probably more to the side of giving Damian a hug and getting him to understand that Dick was worried for him – but if this was going to get Damian to listen to him during patrol then he would be more than happy to oblige. Even now, Dick wasn’t sure if what he was doing right or not. Maybe he should have tried to reach out to Damian more, but well it was too late for that.

 

_Let's see where this new dynamic takes us._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!


	3. Chapter 3

This had been his idea. He wanted this – for Grayson to stop treating him like a child. So then, why? Why did it hurt so much when he watched Grayson walk out of the training room without a backward glance? Damian was used to this, of people walking out of his life without a care.  Well, he thought he was as the first few tears leaked out of eyes and made their way down his cheeks, but he wiped them away as quickly as they came.

 

He didn’t need the man anyways. Without the constant nuisance that Grayson brought with him every time Damian could finally maintain his focus towards his training, Robin, and – loathed admitting this – his school. Yes, it was better this way. Damian should have suggested this strategy the moment they became partners. If he had done that from the beginning, he would not have let Grayson show him affection, wouldn’t have let his walls come down. He would not have needed to trust him.

 

The rest of the day went by slowly. Damian trained, did his homework, and took Titus out for a walk around the manor gardens. All through that Grayson had not come to bother him even once. Come to think of it, Damian had not seen the man after their talk in the training room. Grayson didn’t even bother to show up at the table during lunch, and Damian ignored Pennyworth’s questioning gaze as well as the way his chest constricted at the thought that he really was wanted around here.

 

_It didn’t matter,_ Damian thought to himself bitterly, _whether Grayson chose not to even dine with him. He’s only keeping me here is because he doesn’t want me to go back to the League._

_Not that I could_. And that left a sour taste in his mouth, so Damian refused to spend another minute thinking about it.

 

“Is everything alright with Master Dick, Master Damian?” The butler questioned.

 

_I’m sure my alright is completely different from you’re alright,_ Damian thought.

 

“Yes, Pennyworth. Everything is fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to my room.”

 

Now he just had to find something to busy himself with. Damian was really glad – he tried not to cringe thinking about it – that he would be at school tomorrow, and that Grayson would be at work and be back home only a couple of hours before patrol – not that he was allowed to go out but he will have to make do with just pouring over his father’s old case files to try and understand all the criminals that terrorized Gotham.

 

_Case files._

 

That sounded like a better idea than going to his room and sitting idly by whilst doing nothing, so he changed his destination and made his way to the Cave. He would spend all the free time he had before dinner looking over case files, and if seemed to have the added benefit of not seeing Grayson or Pennyworth than that didn’t have anything to do with Damian. However, when he got down there, he heard the distinct sound of Grayson’s laugh. Damian stopped mid-step because seriously, he had come down here so that he could get some work done, get rid of his boredom, and not have to deal with Grayson.

 

Damian took in some deep breaths. He could do this. It didn’t matter that Grayson was down there laughing with someone instead of upstairs watching a movie with him. The thought made Damian scowl because this is exactly what he didn’t want the man doing. He didn’t care about the fact that Grayson and he were acting like they weren’t family. That’s all there was to it.

 

_Liar,_ his brain said, _you just don’t want to be treated like you’re replaceable so that’s why you’re distancing yourself from him. Which has got to be the best idea that you have ever come up with because you can be replaced – very easily. Your mother did it, and nothing is stopping Grayson from doing it since he can’t have a pathetic excuse of a Robin like yourself out on the field with him._

Damian shook his head because **_no_** _,_ he was not weak. He would not succumb to such thoughts, so he held his head up high as he walked into the Cave and didn’t dare spare a glance to where he knew Grayson was sitting. The conversation quieted the moment Damian’s presence was made aware of the Cave’s other occupants, but Damian only had one thought on his mind as he settled in front of the computer.

 

_Just do what you came here to do. Ignore them._ Damian paused in his quest to find old cases files to pour over. _Maybe I should just lock myself up in my room. That way I won’t have to deal with any of this mess. The mess that I caused because apparently, I just can’t do the right thing, can I?_

“Damian.” A voice called and thus interrupted his search for a case file, more like interrupted his thoughts since the voices had started speaking over each other again trying desperately to be heard. Damian scowled because he recognized that voice and this reaction would prevent any further questions from being asked and that was exactly what he wanted from the person. He would soon realise his mistake of thinking that.

 

“Leave me alone, Drake.” Damian made sure his voice was clipped and growly – as Drake liked to put it, the imbecile. He wasn’t in the mood to get into a fight with Drake right now, but if the other man pushed it Damian would retaliate. He ignored the voice in his head that thought of what Grayson would say to that because it didn’t matter.

 

“Trust me I don’t want to be talking to you either, but if we’re going to patrol together tonight then you need to come and join Dick and I so we can discuss how best to take down the child trafficking group,” Drake said his voice laced with annoyance.

 

What? Damian was supposed to be the one helping Grayson with this case, not Drake.

 

_Well, it’s not like Grayson needs you now that Drake is here because he’s more useful out on the field than you are._

“No,” Damian heard Grayson say before he could get a word out, “Robin is off patrol so it’s only going to be the both of us tonight.” Drake raised an eyebrow, and Damian was a bit peeved by the lack of care in those words.

 

“I’m going to go upstairs and get something to eat, so we’ll continue this later Timmy,” Grayson continued before flashing a smile at Drake and then disappearing upstairs. The moment that Grayson left Drake turned to glare at Damian.

 

“What did you do?”

 

Damian scoffed. Of course, he had to be the one who did something because he was the only one who ever messed up, wasn’t he?

 

Damian ignored Drake and turned back to look over the case files. “I didn’t do anything, and even if I did, I don’t see how that is any of your business. Now, as I stated before, leave me alone.”

 

“Dick’s mad at you,” the imbecile said because he apparently didn’t know the meaning of the words _leave me alone_ , “and I have never seen Dick pissed to the point he doesn’t even regard the other person when they are present in the room. Especially you, because he’s trying to get me to like you even though I keep telling him it’s of no use because you’re a brat.”

 

Damian clutched the mouse tighter. “You’ve established your point here Drake, now leave before I make you.”

 

Drake shook his head but left Damian alone without another word. _Good_. Damian didn’t care if Grayson was mad at him, he would get used to the feeling of no one caring about him or giving him the time of the day like before. He had survived before, he could – would – now as well. He would just have to strengthen some of the lessons he had learned from the League to remind himself of his failure.

 

He would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read this, and left kudos. I'm really grateful. Let me know what you think of this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Dick had been actively avoiding Tim all throughout patrol, even though he had been the one to ask for Red Robin’s help in taking down a group of criminals waiting for a shipment of weapons that Damian and he had been keeping track of. He knew that Tim would have picked up on the obvious tension brewing between him and Damian, but Dick just wasn’t ready to talk about the events that had taken place. So, he kept his distance, made his usual quips as they took down the group of lowlifes, and pushed whatever Damian had said to him to the back of his mind.

 

Tim didn’t try to question him either, which was a good thing, but Dick could tell that his little brother was concerned and he couldn’t ignore his questioning gaze forever, so after showering he made his way to the kitchen for a late night snack and a glass of water knowing fully well that Tim would wander into the kitchen to claim a pot of coffee for himself.

 

“So,” Tim began, not looking at Dick as he busied himself in finding a mug and pouring his coffee, “what’s up with you and the demon brat?”

 

Dick shrugged his shoulders and his grip on his glass of water tightened. Tim noticed that Dick didn’t give him a look of disappointment for calling Damian a ‘demon brat’. “He refused to listen while we were out on patrol, so I went for the usual punishment and grounded him, and I thought that things were fine. The worst I expected was for him to be mad at me for a little while before he got over it, but when I tried talking to him the next day Damian just glared and said that I was ‘unfit to be Batman’.”

 

That was the problem right there because Dick knew that he couldn’t compare to Bruce, but he was trying, and for Damian to belittle and criticize him was downright infuriating.

 

“The thing is I know that I’m not Bruce. He wanted with his father for the longest time, but now he’s stuck with me and in his eyes,  I amount to nothing next to the man he looked up to. Then again-” Dick let out a shaky laugh- “Bruce is not here anymore, he’s gone, and as much as Damian hates it, he’s stuck with me and I think that he doesn’t like that very much – doesn’t like me very much.” Dick wiped a hand over his eyes to get rid of the tears that he did not realize had even gathered there.

 

Tim stood there for a while just staring into the pot of coffee as if held all the answers because he didn’t know what to say to Dick right now. He also highly doubted that his older brother had just told him everything that had happened, so Tim decided to wait and see if Dick would eventually elaborate further.

 

“I’m trying Timmy, but he’s just so stubborn and it feels like I’m talking to a brick wall because he won’t tell me anything. I have tried to get him to open up but apparently, I shouldn’t have bothered since he wants nothing to do with me outside the cowl and cape. Now, here we are, I leave him alone and he leaves me alone, which isn’t anything new, and I really want this work considering the fact that he has said – on numerous occasions – that he doesn’t mind working alone. I’m just going to do whatever I can to keep him here.”

 

“You sure that a good idea? Trying to keep him here?” Tim questioned; his voice low. “I mean,” he continued when Dick gave him a confused look, “you’re clearly struggling with the brat, so wouldn’t it be better to send him to some boarding school.”

 

Dick sighed. “Tim, I can’t do that. I can’t, I owe it to Bruce to try.”

 

“And you have. You can’t trust him to watch your back like this Dick; it won’t work. He very obviously hates your guts, so wouldn’t it be easier for you to just send him away for some time.”

 

“I want to see how this works out. Maybe some time away from each other would do him some good, but not before I figure this out,” Dick said and that sealed their conversation. Tim knew that Dick wasn’t going to change his mind; he tried.

 

“Well,” Tim said, “I’m going to go work on a few case files, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t stick around longer but I need to take care of something.”

 

Dick shook his head and then threw an arm around Tim’s shoulders. “All good, Timmy. It was nice seeing you; you should drop by more often.”

 

“Yeah,” Tim whispered smiling bitterly as he watched Dick exit the kitchen. “I don’t think that that’s such a good idea.”

 

* * *

 

Damian isn’t exactly sure what woke him up in the middle of the night, but something did and now he found himself walking around the house at two in the morning. Grayson and Drake would probably be back from patrol by now, not that he cared. Grayson had taken Drake for a case that Damian and he were supposed to finish together. Damian had been the one who found the evidence linking the two groups together, so it wasn’t fair that he wasn’t allowed to help – even if he was grounded; Grayson wouldn’t even let him watch the footage saying that Damian needed his sleep since he had school tomorrow.

 

Damian scoffed. He wasn’t stupid. He knew why Grayson didn’t want him there, knew that he would have told Drake all about how Damian was behaving. And Drake would agree because its _Drake_.

 

Damian rounded the hallway and found that the kitchen lights were on and he could hear hushed voices coming from inside. He immediately backed up against the wall as he lightened his footsteps. He was just going to go back to bed when he caught his name being brought up in the conversation, so he slowly and quietly inched closer towards the room. His ears picked up on Grayson’s voice as it drifted throughout the kitchen.

 

_“Now, here we are, I leave him alone and he leaves me alone, which isn’t anything new, and I really want this work considering the fact that he has said – on numerous occasions – that he doesn’t mind working alone. I’m just going to do whatever I can to keep him here.”_

_Keep him here?_

 

Damian found himself suddenly clenching his fists in anger as what Grayson said registered in his head. Of course, Grayson would say that he didn’t want Damian going back to his mother – he didn’t know that Damian’s own mother didn’t want him either; that he had been replaced by his own clone. He heard Drake trying to convince Grayson to send him to some boarding school, and Damian squeezed his eyes shut because he knew that Drake would try to get rid of him. Damian couldn’t listen anymore, so he backed up; his heart squeezing in pain.

 

He wasn’t a possession that Grayson could just keep around, he was a person, a human. Grayson didn’t want him, and Damian couldn’t blame him. He only had himself to blame, his own choices, his own mistakes. He wasn’t good enough to want, he could disappear and no one would care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth chapter's finally up. I think there'e either going to be one or two more chapters to wrap up the story. Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments. Really appreciate it, and let me know what you think about this chapter. Hopefully you like it!!


	5. Chapter 5

Damian stared long and hard at the colourful flyer in his hands. He hadn’t shown it to Grayson; hadn’t felt the need to – or more like didn’t expect Grayson to do anything about it considering that they hadn’t been on the best of terms for the past two weeks. Damian wanted to apologize, wanted to tell Grayson that he didn’t mean the words that had come out of his mouth that day, but he highly doubted that would amount to anything. Damian had belittled the man, had told him that he didn’t deserve his father’s legacy. He was back to being Robin though, they went on patrol and somehow managed to work together without any difficulties, but the atmosphere was different – it was tense.

 

He scrunched up the paper and threw it in the trash can nearby, stared as it landed perfectly inside before directing his gaze towards the schoolyard where all the festivities were taking place. He had told Pennyworth some lie about having extra classes, so ultimately, he was stuck here with all the children from his class, as well as the losers from the other classes. He could hole up in the library till everything was finished; he would be able to slip past his teacher easily considering the fact that she wasn’t really paying attention to the students and was more invested in making sure that everything was perfect for when the parents showed up. The yard was slowly filling up with more and more people.

 

Damian felt something rub up against his leg and looked down to find a small tabby cat wrapping itself around his leg. He leaned down to scratch the kittens head and it purred in response eliciting a smile from the boy. Maybe he could stay here for some time before heading to the library. The kitten circled his legs a few more time before it leapt up on his lap and then proceeded to curl up in a ball for a nap right there.

 

“Where did you come from?”

 

“I just happened to be walking past, and well considering the fact that this festival is open to everyone I thought I would drop by and say hello.”

 

Damian’s hand stilled in action as he looked up to find Brown walking towards him with two ice cream cones in her hands – one mint and the other strawberry, she held out the strawberry cone to him after she sat down next to him. Damian took the ice cream from her, albeit a bit hesitantly since he had no idea as to what she was doing here. She claimed to be just walking by, but he knew that she was supposed to be having a class right now so was a bit on edge. Considering that Brown and Drake talked a lot, and since the idiot had trouble keeping his mouth shut, Damian could figure out to some extent as to the reason why she was here right now.

 

“The stalls are really good. Your teacher told me that it had been your idea to have your class do the ‘Quiz Stall’. Good idea there, though she was surprised that you weren’t at the booth helping out.”

 

“That may be true, but the questions the class compiled for the trivia proved to be unchallenging. All the questions that I presented were rejected as they were too difficult, and this was a game meant to be for everyone for fun.”

 

Brown snorted. “Can’t say that I’m surprised there since not everyone is exactly overflowing with useless information, but it is nice to know that you’re-”

 

“What are you doing here, Brown? I highly doubt you’re here to just talk about how I’m integrating with the fools that are in my class.”

 

Brown hummed in response but stayed silent otherwise as she finished her ice cream. The kitten lounging on Damian’s lap leapt off when he got up to dispose of his tissue. He figured he could head up to the library and stay there for the next two hours if Brown had nothing useful to tell him. However, before he could even take more than two steps in the direction of the building Brown spoke up.

 

“I talked to Tim last night, well early morning more like it; after we both got back from patrol. He told me about the fight you and Dick got into like two weeks before. I was a bit surprised to hear him say that you guys hadn’t made up. I thought you actually well actually liked him.” She paused. “A bit - definitely more than you like the rest of us.”

 

“I don’t like anyone,” Damian replied.

 

“I know,” she sighed. “Just, are you sure about what you’re doing? I mean this thing that Dick and you have settled on. Are you happy with it?” She questioned, looking at him curiously.

 

Damian thought about how he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. Grayson had made it clear that he wasn’t going to tolerate Damian not listening to him, and the only way Damian could think of doing that was by making sure that there was a distinct line between the two of them.  He always dissociated himself from the situation because then that way he found it easier to handle missions – he didn’t have to prove himself, just had to follow orders and that was easier to do when he wasn’t close to the person giving the orders. So, yeah, he wasn’t _happy_ , but more importantly, he didn’t have a _choice_ since his mother had placed a bounty on his head. He wasn’t wanted anywhere either way, but he could make this work if he listened.

 

“Grayson made himself explicitly clear about what he expected, and about the consequences,” Damian answered instead.

 

Brown’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Expected? Consequences? What are you talking about?”

 

Damian hesitated.

 

“Excuse me, Brown but I have better things to be doing at the moment.”

 

Brown didn’t say anything as Damian got up and left. He could have told her, but he had decided that this was something he had to deal with on his own. It had been his own mistakes that got him into this mess, he would be the one to deal with the fallout as well.

 

* * *

 

 “Knock, knock,” Stephanie said as she stepped into Dick’s office at Wayne Enterprises. “I need to talk to you, though I admit this isn’t the best place to be having this conversation.”

 

“Or time,” Dick replied but he had a small smile on his face. “What’s up? You need help on a case or something?”

 

She hummed in thought, trying to come up with an idea on how to talk about this predicament. It wasn’t any of her business, Dick hadn’t told her anything, but she was worried and well maybe Tim shouldn’t have told her anything if he had wanted her to stay out of this. She sat on the black leather couch as she gathered together her thoughts.

 

“Damian and you, what’s going on?” She added, “And don’t say _nothing_ because Tim told me everything, and I may also have talked to Damian, though he didn’t let much slip.”

 

Dick sighed, and his smile dropped. “You said Tim told you everything, so what do you want me to tell you Steph.”

 

“Did you talk to him?”

 

“The reason we’re doing this is because I talked to him. He thinks I should step up my game as Batman; I did. He thinks we shouldn’t acknowledge each other outside Batman and Robin; I stopped and now we don’t. That’s all there is to it.”

 

“Is that what you want though?” She asked. “You don’t usually back down this easily Dick. He’s brash, egotistical and self-centred, but you looked past that when none of us did.”

 

Dick’s face instantly soured. “Oh yes, now you’re in his corner. Not when I told you guys to give him a chance, but now after I’ve given him a chance and given up.”

 

“Okay, yeah I deserved that. But I can see that he’s trying now Dick. Not just as Robin, but at school too. He’s started referring to his classmates as ‘fools’ rather than ‘vermin’ now, so I’m trying to give him a chance here.”

 

“Steph-”

 

“And before you tell me that you already did that, I just want to know about the expectations you set for Damian, and the consequences of said expectations.” She said. “He told me that but wouldn’t elaborate any further when I went to talk to him at his school today.”

 

“I never mentioned anything about expectations Steph. All I asked of him was to listen to me so that we could work effectively as a team together, and apparently, that blew up a fuse in him because the next day he wanted nothing to do with me.”

 

Well, this was hopeless and not going anywhere. Evidently, there had been some sort of miscommunication during their communication. She shook her head in exasperation, these boys seriously couldn’t hold a simple conversation without there being consequences. Though that was what she had set out to fix when she found out about the situation.

 

“Why did you go to his school?” Dick asked. “On top of that, aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”

 

She rolled her eyes. “The schools holding some sort of festival today for everyone, and since my class got cancelled, I thought I’d check it out and talk to the gremlin in one go.”

 

“Oh,” Dick said and that confirmed Steph’s theory on the fact that Damian hadn’t told Dick about the festival. Not that she had expected him to, considering what was going on.

 

“Would you talk to him again? I’m a hundred-per cent sure that you guys messed up somewhere, so please.”

 

“Fine. I’ll talk to him, again. Don’t expect too much though.”

 

She smiled. “I won’t.”

 

* * *

 

 He may have told Steph that he would talk to Damian, but he wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to say. Dick sat staring at the bat-computer trying to find the best way to ask Damian about what it was that Steph had been talking about when she had stopped by today. _Steph stopped by and told me to talk to you because you mentioned something about expectations, and I don’t remember anything related to that so, can we talk?_ , really didn’t seem to be the best way to go about because Damian would likely think that the only reason Dick was talking to him was because Steph had told him to, but that wasn’t true because he genuinely was curious as to what he had said for Damian to come to that conclusion. Dick heard the shower turn off, and after a few minutes, Damian stepped out and started walking towards the staircase without sparing a glance towards him.

 

“Damian.”

 

He saw Damian freeze in his steps and straighten himself before he turned towards him; refused to look into his eyes though. “Yes?”

 

Dick took in a deep breath. “Could we…, no wait we _need_ to talk, so please just come here for a minute. Or however long this takes.”

 

“No, I’m fine here. You can say whatever you want to me like this.”

 

“Alright, that’s fine. You can stay there. No problem.” Dick said as he wrung his hands in frustration, he didn’t elaborate any further though, still trying to come up with what exactly he was supposed to say.

 

“Grayson? Are you alright?” Damian questioned apprehensively as he watched Dick move around with a pained look on his face.

 

“No. I mean yes! Physically speaking I’m fine!” Dick ran a hand through his already messed up hair. “I wanted to talk about our fight, or well whatever that was because-”

 

Dick trailed off when he saw Damian’s eyes harden, and oh, this was not what he was going for. He wasn’t good at talking to people as people said he was given how much he kept messing up with a ten-year-old kid who was supposed to be his brother.

 

“I didn’t listen, and you got angry; I don’t see what else there is to say.”

 

“Well, I was wondering if I had said something that may have upset you; I was tired so I don’t really remember much, and I’m not trying to make excuses for myself but if you could talk to me about what got you so riled up, maybe I could help?” Dick said.

 

Damian scoffed. “I don’t need help.”

 

Dick gritted his teeth in frustration wondering why this kid wouldn’t just listen. “Fine, but could you please tell me what I said because I need you to understand that we’re a team and that means that we should be able to communicate with each other.”

 

“You think I’m useless out on the field if I don’t obey your orders, Grayson! You expect me to listen to you without questioning your authority! I understand that, and I’ve been listening to you without hesitation, trying to prove to you that I deserve to be out there!” Damian shouted in as he felt his eyes starting to sting. He was trying his best, but as usual, it wasn’t enough. Everyone around him always expected him to figure out his place, and what he was supposed to do. And when he messed up, he had to deal with the consequences. He could deal with that though – had gotten used to at this point – but what confused him was Grayson.

 

Grayson was an anomaly; he was completely the opposite of his mother and grandfather. Even when Damian messed up Grayson didn’t get mad, just smiled and said that people made mistakes from time to time – that he had made his fair share. Damian always expected the man to start shouting at him about how he could do nothing right. He never did that – until he did.

 

“If you would prefer to have Drake out on the field with you rather than me then I,” Damian paused his fists clenched at his sides. “I know you didn’t ask to be stuck with me,” Damian finished softly.

 

The fight drained out of Dick’s body after Damian’s confession. He hadn’t been doing this right, had he? Not that he knew what it was like raising a child, but considering the fact that it was Damian, a child who didn’t exactly fit into the normal spectrum; he had messed up. He regarded the boy with, saw his rigid form as he stood there trying so hard to keep in his tears.

 

“I don’t need you to prove anything to me, Damian,” Dick began, his voice quiet and earnest, “and I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that you needed to.”

 

Damian glanced up at him with suspicious eyes, but otherwise stayed put and didn’t say a word, but the important thing was that he was listening.

 

“The main piece of information that you’re missing is the fact that I didn’t get stuck with you. I have to deal with a lot of things that I don’t want to deal with, but you’re not one of them. I chose you as my partner, and I chose to stay here with you; no one forced me to do it. You understand?”

 

Damian nodded his head though he still didn’t look like he believed him. Dick took a couple of steps closer and knelt down so that he was eye-level with him. Gave him a small smile before continuing, “I know this is hard, for you and me both, kiddo, but I don’t regret my decision, and I promise you that nothing you do will ever make me regret it.”

 

Dick knew full well what that was like, had felt the exact same way when he had started staying with Bruce. Always thought that if he made even one slip-up that Bruce would change his mind, and then give him to some orphanage or throw him out on the streets; but he never did. Though it took time for Dick to understand that – after more than a couple of mistakes, and yeah, realizing what he had gone through himself he should probably have talked to Damian sooner.

 

“Even if I don’t listen sometimes,” Damian whispered.

 

Dick grinned. “Yeah, even then. Like I said earlier, we’re a team, Little D,” Damian gave a small smile at the nickname, “so that means that I have to listen to you as well. Think you can get with that?”

 

“You mean you’ll be willing to listen to my opinions and ideas?” Damian asked confused.

 

“Yes, this communication goes both ways, buddy. Now,” Dick got up from his crouch and threw an arm around Damian’s shoulders, “how about we get some ice cream and settle for a movie.”

 

“That sounds acceptable,” Damian agreed, slightly leaning into Dick's embrace.

 

Dick thought about how he would definitely need to thank Steph tomorrow as he listened to Damian throw out ideas on how they could improve the Batmobile.

 

"Grayson?"

 

Dick hummed in response as he pulled out the ice cream.

 

"There is a festival of sorts going on at school for the week. If you wish to attend, you may do so."

 

Dick couldn't fight off the smile that overtook his face. "I would love that, Little D."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the end!! I seriously appreciate everyone who read this and left kudos and comments!! Thank you so much to everyone!! ❤❤


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